Montco approves quick fixes for 911 system; delays long-term solution

By Margaret GibbonsStaff writer

Thursday

Sep 29, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 29, 2011 at 1:45 PM

The deterioration of Montgomery County’s antiquated emergency communications system prompted the county commissioners Wednesday to declare an “emergency” that will enable officials to bypass the normal competitive bidding process for urgent purchases.

“We are talking about saving lives here,” said Commissioner Chairman James R. Matthews. “You don’t want to call 911 and have no one answer.”

Despite this situation, the commissioners opted not to rush a decision on a proposed multimillion dollar system upgrade or, alternatively, to purchase a new system. That decision, described by Deputy Chief Operating Officer James W. Maza as the “single largest financial decision to be made in this county,” will be left to the new administration that takes office in January.

The commissioners had previously hoped to make a decision and award a contract this year for a project that could cost anywhere between $30 million to $50 million.

“We will set the table for them,” said Matthews who, like fellow Commissioner Joseph M. Hoeffel III, is not seeking re-election this year.

The incident that sparked the emergency declaration occurred on Sept. 20 when the paging system, which is used to dispatch firefighters and emergency medical personnel on calls, was taken offline for maintenance and a backup system was used to replace it, according to Public Safety Director Thomas M. Sullivan.

When the system went back up, a part failed and the county again had to go to the backup system while a replacement part was secured from a secondhand supplier for $8,000.

If the backup system had also failed, the situation could have become “extremely dangerous,” said Sullivan. While there are other ways or “walk arounds” to alert these first responders, there would have been delays that could have resulted in a loss of life or property in critical situations, he said.

While the $8,000 purchase is below the $10,000 mark that state law sets for competitive bidding, county officials fear that other parts, technology or services in excess of $10,000 will be needed in the future to keep the system running and that there will be no time for a bidding process.

The resolution declaring the emergency sets no time frame for that emergency to end and does not limit the size of any purchase although any purchase must be signed off by the commissioners after receiving a recommendation from the heads of the public safety and purchasing departments and the chief operating officer.

The county purchased its telecommunications system, which carried a predicted lifespan of 10 years, in 1996 from Motorola, according to county officials. Motorola in December 2010 announced that it would no longer supply parts for or maintain any public safety telecommunications systems developed from 1996 or earlier, officials said.

Aware of this situation, the county has been exploring its options for more than a year to determine whether to upgrade the system or go with a new system.

Maza, who is heading the senior staff doing the legwork on this issue, said more time was needed.

“We have the details we need to move forward but not enough to make a recommendation,” said Sullivan.

Noting that the requests for information that generated four responses were not specific enough for a decision, the staff recommended, and the commissioners agreed, to hire a new consultant at a cost of between $100,000 to $200,000 to work with public safety officials and the police chiefs in developing very detailed bid specifications.

It will take about a month to bring a new consultant on board and another six months to put together a bidding package that will generate competition, according to Maza.

It then will be up to next year’s administration to decide what it wants to do.

“The idea of putting on the brakes, looking at it carefully, getting it right is the right thing to do,” said Commissioner Bruce L. Castor Jr., the lone incumbent seeking re-election.

Castor said that it is best to have whatever studies are needed done now so that a future administration “will have the answers in hand” when it makes a decision.

Castor in the past has opposed the proposed upgrade at this time, claiming the county cannot afford it. He has suggested putting the matter before voters in a referendum once the county secures the information that it and voters need to make a knowledgeable decision.